The Themed Gardens at the Huntington, An Oasis East of Los Angeles

Good morning dear hivers!

This is the second of two parts of our nature walk around the stunning botanical gardens of The Huntington in San Marino, California, about 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. It is a lovely oasis, a quiet place to walk and .. smell the roses!

There are 16 themed gardens in The Huntington, accessible through acres of walking trails. We previously posted about our walk on the enchanting Chinese garden and its elegant structures read here and today we continue on to the other gardens - the Conservatory, the historical Japanese garden, and the colorful Rose garden. Let’s walk!

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Our first stop today is the Conservatory for Botanical Science, a domed building near the entrance of the Gardens, which houses interactive exhibits for children and families and plants in different habitats.

$" " \"pic3.jpg\"""$ "Plants are up to Something," says the sign at the top of the building between the pillars

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Before we entered the Conservatory, we stopped at this tiny plot of a garden brimming with pink and white flowers. In the center was a bronze statue of Mercury, the Roman god of commerce, communication, and travel; he was considered to be a playful, ‘wily trickster.’

THE GREENHOUSE

Inside the Conservatory is a 16,000-square-foot greenhouse made of glass and steel with tropical rainforest, a cloud forest, and a carnivorous plant bog. It has a rotunda with a 43-foot high dome in the center and two wings adjoined on each side. This landscape was designed by architect Deneen Powell Atelier.

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This greenhouse is home to tropical plants, tall trees, and palms and is kept at temperatures between 65 and 90F; the relative humidity is maintained at 50 to 95%.

When we first entered this rainforest, we were met by really warm, muggy air, an entirely different condition from outside. The floor was wet, so we had to be careful not to slip or fall over. There were a few kids with Moms in tow. Circling the forest, we discovered some of its interesting flora.

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Look what we found in the rainforest - a bright conical flower called the Philippine waxflower! It is also known as Indonesian tall ginger, torch ginger, or ginger flower.

$" " \"pic7.jpg\"""$ This waxflower produces a torch-like flower stalk about 5 feet long; it can also grow up to 20 feet tall.

$" " \"pic8.jpg\"""$ This flower is called Vanilla imperialis, a rare orchid, and an African native; its pretty yellow flowers don’t last more than a couple of days

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Let’s proceed to the Japanese Garden, this historic garden with the most beloved and iconic landscape. Spread in nine acres of land, it has a zen feel to it. Peaceful, relaxed. It has a distinctive moon bridge, a quaint Japanese house, and a koi pond. It is one of the first gardens created by Huntington and opened to the public in 1928.

THE MOONBRIDGE

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The central point of the Japanese garden is the moon bridge on the lake. Probably the most photographed element in the garden, it was built by Japanese craftsman Toichiro Kawai. Cascading green branches fill the now-green landscape but in the springtime, when the cherry blossoms are in full bloom, this garden will be bursting with life and color.

We would love to come back to this garden in spring.

THE JAPANESE HOUSE

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There is a quaint Japanese house in the garden, made of wood, with five rooms. It has paneled doors that can open to the outdoors; it also has inner walls that can be moved around to make more space. The design exemplifies the merging of indoor and outdoor space in Japanese architecture.

THE KOI POND

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The Lake under the moon bridge is home to Japanese koi or colored varieties of carp that are popular as decoration for koi ponds because of their color and lineage. Koi is known to swim against the current, so it symbolizes strength, courage, and perseverance.

We don’t see much koi swimming today though.

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Across the Japanese garden and along the walkway are wooden benches under a canopy of trees.

We rested here under the shade of the trees and took in the scenic view from a distance. We had a good respite from all the walking.

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Let’s proceed to the Rose Garden and be dazzled by a vast collection of cultivated rose varieties, so full of color and fragrance in a 3-acre site. Thanks to California’s long bloom season for roses, we see roses galore today.

THE CLIMBING ROSES

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Here’s a trellis of vibrant rose climbers in reds and pinks all enchanting to the eyes. We like the white paint of the latticework as it accentuates the colors of the flowers.

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Roses here.. roses there..roses everywhere! Soo romantic! We could stay here all day!

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LOVE, CAPTIVE OF YOUTH

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Amid these roses stands a French stone temple with a statue named_ L’Amour Captif de la Jeunesse, or Love, Captive of Youth, showing Cupid and a ~~fair ~~young maiden, his captor - a fitting statue of love and romance among the roses.

THE PINK ROSE ON A STUMP

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In the middle of the Rose garden, there is what looks like a gigantic rose tree in pink encircled by small border plants and flowers. It is a very eye-catching arrangement. When you look more closely though, you’ll find that what appears as a rose trunk is actually just a chunky ‘fake wood’ stump.

HYBRID TEA ROSES

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Going around the plots we found different varieties and colors of hybrid tea roses. Plot 36 has them in pink; across the aisle, some whites.

ROSA “MARILYN MONROE”

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Does a rose, by any name smell just as sweet? Well, we found a rose here named after Marilyn Monroe -a light-smelling peach hybrid tea rose created by Tom Carruth in 2002. It is a sturdy variety, and it won Portland gold medal in 2006! This one’s a winner!

WAIT... THERE’S MORE

THE JUNGLE GARDEN

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On our way out of the Huntington, we passed through the ‘"jungle” garden which has a canopy of tall trees, bamboo, palms, and even plants with interestingly giant leaves.

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The *Platycerium superbum*, commonly known as the staghorn fern, is a native of Australia. The plant can develop hanging fronds that can reach up to two meters long.

THE CALIFORNIA GARDEN

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Near the exit of the Huntington was a garden landscaped with California natives and dry-climate plants. This one has a strong resemblance to my neighbor’s garden.

THE LANDMARK

There was this sculpture at the entrance to the gardens, an intriguing bronze head sculpture called The Landmark by Enrique Martinez Celaya, one of the many art collections in Huntington. The plaque next to it says, “The closed eyes of this head suggest the process of reminiscing and imagining".

"Everything around it is either a memory or will soon become one".

So let’s make good memories, guys!

And thanks for reading!

[//]:# (!pinmapple 34.131935 lat -118.117544 long the huntington library d3scr)